Homecoming (Joe Sugg, Caspar Lee, Oli White and more)
by camilk1percent
Summary: Valerie Bexon has recently graduated highschool and is trying to figure it all out as she works on her channel. When she gets an opportunity to work with YouTube and meet the hottest vlogers in the UK she comes across tthe best mates Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee, with whom she'll have very different and confusing encounters. HEAVY LENGUAGE AND EXPLICIT SCENES
1. Chapter One

Chapter One.

Seven am.

My eyes had been open for quite a long time now, getting used to the dim light that snuck through the curtains. I heard my father's steps downstairs, probably late. I turned over myself and dug my head in the pillow, dad would step in my room to say goodbye and I would pretend I was asleep. I was falling back to sleep when I heard the door opening, I laid still with my eyes closed as his safe hands pulled the covers over my shoulders, he leaned to place a kiss into my hair and then left the room, the sloppy sound of his shoes following him close.

Seven thirty am.

My hands rubbed the sleep off my eyes and with a little effort I sat on the edge of the bed, looking around and verifying everything I needed was on its place. By the closet door, in the other corner of the room was my desk, all my camera equipment and my computer laid on it, in front of it the big chair in which all the clothes I couldn't be bothered to move laid as well. I stood up and stripped off my sleep clothes, walking in front of the mirror and praising myself for choosing to hang a jacket over it. I put on all dark leggins and bra, throwing over a long jumper to cover my arse, next were my running shoes. Once I was all covered I walked over to the silent hallway and went into the bathroom, I washed my face and put my hair up in a ponytail. I sighed at the sight of the bags under my eyes. I walked back to the room to get my keys and my phone and then ran downstairs, in the blink of an eye I was locking the door behind me.

Seven fifty am.

Leaving my street behind and putting my headphones on I started running. Around twenty minutes to get to the gym, open at eight for those very enthusiastic… and people like me. The dubstep and trap mixes flooded my ears, beating so hard it blocked everything around me, the morning in the city was quite busy. Once I got there I went straight to the changing rooms to get changed into shorts, and afterwards into the machine room to get some fun there for as long was possible.

Fifty five past ten am.

I dragged my feet inside the house, I had came back walking, my legs were shaking and I couldn't keep ignoring my grownling stomach begging to be fed. I took my jumper off and walked over to the kitchen after tossing it next to the stairs. I opened the fridge and flickered my eyes taking in the choices. I decided to go for a banana, yogurt and some nuts. I threw everything in the mixer and poured it in a glass to then go back upstairs into my room, where I opened the windows and turned the radio up as I walked to get in the shower, getting rid of the sweat stoaked clothes that stuck to my body. The music took over shortly after and the warm water ran through my body comfortingly.

After a while there wasn't much to do. Since school had ended a couple months back I had decided to take a time off to work on my interests. I opened my YouTube account on my laptop as I took a sip of my water. My last video was a video mounting at the beach, 'Beach Adventure', I looked through the comments for a while smiling to myself as I enjoyed the music. YouTube was my life, I had over a hundred videos up, most viewed being 'Room Tour | Liv Bex', 'On not going to Uni' and the 'A Lazy Girl's Guide to Life' series, I had reached a hundred thousand and met some pretty cool people, every day I was surprised that people would bother to watch ten or so minutes of my life once or twice a week. I decided to start working in my next video, it would be the 100k celebration, I had decided what I wanted to do a few weeks back, I wanted to talk honestly and openly about my life with with all the people that were now a part of it.

I didn't care about my lower half, I kept my comfy flower-patterned shorts and threw on an asymmetrical stripped shirt on and put my hair up in a bun. I opened the drawer where I kept my ever growing make up collection and put some time into doing my face, my green eyes adorned with mascara and a bold red colour on my lips. I stopped in front of the mirror and practiced my words and expressions, I was trying to stay calm and relaxed, this was going to be a serious video. I sighed, I had it under control, but one hundred thousand people was insane.

I took another sip of water and started setting up the tripod next to the window to get the natural light. I set the camera on fully charged, the microphone under but out of shot. I took a seat in front of it.

–Hello guys, it's Val and today I decided to make a bit of a different video to celebrate one hundred thousand subscribers and as a big ass thank you that I could not stress enough, thank you for spending few minutes of your life to come hang out with me and make me so, so happy by being a part of my life. –I took my hands to my face and covered it to suffocate a small Yell.– One hundred thousand people, fuck –I laughed to myself.

–I started making videos as a coping method, I know some of you out there might know my blog on Tumblr, and if you don't that's okay, where I would sit on my laptop in my room and talk and ramble and talk about whatever it is that was in my mind or that I was struggling with, with no purpose. For some reason people seemed to care, and they started watching and I didn't know why, and people left me all kind of messages on tumblr about how they felt the same way I was feeling and they were going through the same things I was going through. That was about two years ago, and I never thought people outside my circle would care or would actually look forward to me making content, I never thought I would have over one hundred thousand people caring about my rambles and about how I hated school or was feeling ugly and fat. –I let out a laugh, I knew what I was getting into though it seemed like I was talking non sense at the moment, I would have a lot of editing to do, I was thinking adding pictures and some music for it.– I don't want you guys to feel sorry for me or pity me by making this video, I just want you to know these things about me because you are all an important part of my life. –I took a deep breath–. When I was about twelve I started fasting, binging and over exercising –I went straight to the point–, I didn't like myself, I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin, I didn't feel normal. I've struggled with an Eating Disorder for about seven years,I started making videos at fourteen, then started treatment at fifteen, I'm eighteen now, and I started this channel at sixteen. Being on YouTube as this has passed has helped me so much, you guys are so supportive and I've been introduced to such amazing people I wouldn't have met any other way, and I'm so thankful and so, so excited to keep recovering and meeting people and making friends here, and to continue fighting every day to love myself and embrace myself, and with my channel that's the message I want you to get that message, and I want you to know, whatever it is you're going through, if it's depression, anxiety, the loss of a loved one, an eating disorder or stress… You are strong and you're not alone. You are part of this family, our little Internet family. I am here for all of you guys, you can reach out to me and I promise you I will do my very best to help you out. Be nice to each other, always remember you don't know what other people are struggling with. Look out for each other, it's important.

A smile took over my face as I felt my eyes watering. I was thankful and proud of counting on such a family that made me forget if it was necessary and made me laugh if it was necessary.

–Remember to stay hydrated and stay cute. I love you. –I made my signature goodbye.

I stopped the recording and took my phone, I rushed to take a selfie smiling (after a couple of failed ones), I put it up on Twitter and Instagram with the capture 'Sending a massive hug to each and every one of you, thank you for 100k. Special video tomorrow x'.

I decided to reward myself after all that, I went downstairs and made veggie burritos to enjoy while I watched some of the videos up on my feed, I was currently subscribed to over eighty channels and it was growing every day. For me, treatment and recovery weren't a process but a way of life now, sometimes chaos was peace for me, counting calories and exercising daily, I had found my balance which allowed me to live peacefully within everything.

When I was thirteen my mom passed out in a routine operation from allergic reaction to a general anesthetic, I spent enough time experimenting with prescriptions and pills in a futile attempt to know more than the doctors. There wasn't much to me apart from all the tragedy that my life seemed to be, few friends in school and up until now, average grades and average face, I guess. Green eyes, like my mother, and the same brown beach like hair that fell down to my mid back, big features from my father's side, I always laughed showing more than eight teeth, which magazines say is the adequate smile.

I spent the afternoon editing the video for the next day on my comfy shorts and a careless grey sweater sitting on the sofa with the TV on to keep me company. When dad got home it was about six, he had gotten dinner, he sat by me and we ate as I was telling him about my next video. I was about done editing, waiting for the video to export as I was eating an apple for dessert, when my phone rang on the table: No caller ID. I ignored it, but it continue ringing.

–Val, could you get that? –my dad called out from the next room, somehow annoyed at the song repeating itself over and over.

–Alright, alright –I answered, shutting down the TV and pressing the speaker. – Hello?

–Is this Valerie Bexon? –the voice on the other side of the line called my full name.

–Yeah, who's this? H-how'd you get this number? –I rushed to ask since I didn't recognize the male voice.

–Valerie, can I call you Val? –he didn't wait for an answer– My name is Dom Smales, I'm calling from the Google Headquarters in London in behalf of the organization of Bestival Festival.

I looked up, my eyes widening as much as possible, my dad was looking at me from the other room's door, making incomprehensible gestures with his hands.

–Is this a joke? –was the boldest thing I could articulate.

–No, no –the man laughed–. I've sent you an e-mail as well beause we've seen your YouTube channel is growing quite a lot by now, we wanted to make an inquire, hear me, how'd you like to work with us to give you a platform to reach out to your viewers and other vloggers in your area and more? Now, you're eighteen, am I right?

–Yeah –I replied, almost unable to believe what was happening, it wasn't possible, my account wasn't even verified yet.

–What we want to offer you is a stay Friday to Tuesday in Premier Inn London Dockland, meals included, your very own meetup Saturday and free passes to the festival for the weekend and both after parties in which you'll meet other personalities that are there as well. So, are you interested?

I was breathless for a few seconds, I felt like a movie star.

–Sure, I mean, of course I'm interested –I exhaled.

–Alright! Great! I'll be e-mailing you more information and calling you through the week, okay, we'll see you very soon!

–Alright. Okay, thank you very much –I spoke with the last of my rushed breath, feeling my heart coming out of my mouth.

–That's amazing! –my father came running to me to hold me by the shoulders and shake me up a bit– Of course, If you want to go, you can go.

–Of course I want to go! –I let myself fall back into the couch, putting my knees up and burying my head between them, my only dream was coming true. – Shit, dad, I'm gonna have a legit YouTube career! –I screamed and kicked my legs in the air at the same time.


	2. Chapter Two

I assumed I couldn't give any details, and that night I stayed up thinking what would happen if no one showed up to meet me or even say hi at all that day. Fuck, even if that happened I could still stay at the hotel for free and go to a cool exclusive party besides the festival itself.

The next day I woke up straight to put my video up since I had let it private last night before I put it live. Though I was slightly scared to read the comments I felt brave enough, even afterwards, reading and scrolling down the comment section, knowing how many people felt identified with it and who assured me that I had helped them through their own way to recovery or to seek help or just simply accept themselves a bit more. That was all I needed to know, I had spent enough time online to learn to ignore the comments along the lines "is she anorexic?" or "she's fat", I have had enough training on "I feel so sorry for her!". None of them had any effect in my brain. I wasn't perfect, I knew well, sometimes I didn't love my body but I let it be, it protected me and I protected it.

In the next few days I got enough information about Bestival and the people from YouTube. Dom had contacted people as incredible as Zoella, Tanya Burr y Louise Pentland before, he was the main face of public relations and manager of many internet personalities in the UK and he wanted me to be a part of it, he wanted me to be the next Professional Internet Human, title I had came up with in the train to London with my dad, where we were headed to meet Dom in person.

We met up in a café in Downtown London, one of those with a nice view of the river and tables with patio umbrellas. I could sigh relieved when we discovered he was a real person, the same person I had seen in videos before, not some huge scam or someone trying to kill me, which I also considered in the way. It was Wednesday and my Bestival dates started Saturday, I was supposed to be in London Friday afternoon for a meeting with other Internet people where, I supposed, no one would know who I am. In that same moment I had my dad take a picture of me smiling as much as it was humanly possible for me and holding my free pass in front of me, I put it up everywhere from Instagram with the caption "I'm having my first meet up ever! Come meet me and hang out at Bestival, Saturday at 11 am xx".

On the way back home I knew I had to pack, I would probably make my next video about what I'd be wearing for the weekend, both day and night besides de vlog, of course. I wrote down some ideas down. In the meet with Dom we had talked about partering up with YouTube officially, besides veryfing my account and so my channel would make more money at the end of the month. YouTube would now be my full time job and I was already loving my job. Besides all that, among the personalities that would be there at the festival were Jenn Im, one of my favorite vloggers, Louis Cole, Alfie Deyes and many more, as Dom has mentioned.

That same afternoon I called Emma on Skype, Emma Blackery was my best friend, also an Internet human, of course she hado ver 700k subscribers. Emma and I had done a lot of collabs, the most viewed being the day we got our noses pierced together, I had titled it "Nose Adventure with Emma Blackery".

-How'd the thing go!? –Emma rushed to ask as she got closer to the laptop.

-I'm going to Bestival and they're going to make me a partner, fuck! –I yelled, throwing my arms up in the air and then falling back on my chair.

-I'm so happy for you! –she said clapping.

-You need to come over early tomorrow because I'm making a Festival Lookbook probably and I need help shooting it, I'm choosing outfits tonight. I need two days and two night outfits and I'm gonna have the hardest time not going all black.

-Yeah, yeah, we'll get risky and hot –she laughed.- You are so meeting a hot guy there.

I laughed.

-Whatever happens I'll be ready –I said jokingly.

Emma made condom jokes and I laughed. I wasn't a virgin, it wasn't a really big deal to me, I had gone through quite a few failed relationships and I just simply liked boys too much. Emma and I had a conversation about all the YouTubers we would sleep with if given the chance, my best friend and I were on Skype talking until probably two am or so while she was editing and I looked for the perfect outfits with her help. The next day Emma got to my house at around noon, we recorded enough footage I would edit when I got back, she stayed over to sleep and we binge thirsty watched videos by our favorite YouTube boys.

Friday afternoon arrived, I took a shower and picked quite a simple and comfortable outfit, white air max sneakers, skinnies and a white top with a golden necklace and a green parka. My dad gave me a ride to the station with a suitcase and my big black bag with gold studs. When I got to London couple hours after a taxi was waiting for me, where I gave my name and I was told what my room number was, apparently I was in the same floor as other vloggers. It was five pm, I decided to unpack my outfits and put them neatly in the room's closet. It was a small room, big bed, a little auxiliary table in the corner, a TV and a comfortable bathroom with everything else, enough for one person since I hadn't been asked to share the bedroom.

We, all the internet personalities invited to the festival, had been invited to dine at the hotel's salon, I was feeling a little anxious, I thought I should change into something more dressy, I took off my parka, I would be alright with the AC, I put on platform ankle boots and I looked through my bag for accessories for earrings, bracelets and a matching ring, I made sure my makeup was still perfect and brushed my hair. I decided to start a vlog: I took the camera out of my purse and walked towards the window to get the nice lighting.

-Hey guys, reporting from the hotel where I'm staying at here in London,all ready to meet some people, eat some dinner and hang out, yeah, with uh-mazing people I might show you later or I'll add some cheeky pictures 'cause I'll be creeping a lot, yeah. This is what I'm wearing –I said as I walked to the bathroom and recorded myself in the mirror-, there's not much to show around –I continued walking around-. So, I'm gonna be heading down to the dining now, I don't know if you guys can tell but, God, I am so nervous –I laughed and grinned.

I paused the video and put the camera back in my purse, I turned around and checked myself out in the mirror one last time before heading out on my way to the lift. Once I turned around the corner and recognized someone, Jenn herself was also waiting for the lift to come checking her phone. I felt my stomach twist and turn and my face turn bright pink.

-Jenn? –I asked shyly, I didn't know what her reaction was going to be, we followed each other on Twitter but had never seen each other since she lived in the US.

-Oh, sorry –she said smiling, and then tilted her head to the side and looked at me with her mouth slightly open, maybe a little bit confused- Wait, Val Bexon? –she let her perfectly aligned teeth show as she, without hesitation she came closer to hug me- I saw you were coming on your Insta, that's amazing, congratulations!

My giggle felt shakier than my body, which could have been a good thing, I returned the hug and realized I was a tiny bit taller than her even when her shoes were twice as high as mine.

–Thank you so much –I replied with a bright smile. –, you literally look so amazing –I commented while I checked her outfit out, she was wearing a mesh black shirt tucked into black high wasted shorts, a snapback covering her short hair and nude sandals–, I'm so glad to finally meet you.

We hopped on the lift together, one floor below us we met Stephanie Villa, Jenn's best friend, and finally got to the ground floor, where the dining was. The whole place was set up and food was being prepared. I felt as if we were the cool girls walking in slow-mo, Jenn and Stephanie greeted a bunch of people, Helen Anderson herself among them, whom I completly obsessed with. There was a screen showing different bits of videos by all the people that were there, I was staring at it from my seat, not many people had approached me just yet and i didn't feel confident enough to be the one to approach them, on my second slice of fancy pizza I spotted myself in the screen, my channel's trailer was on, I remembered making it, it had been a pain in the ass to pick the clips and songs, I'd invested a long time in it. It started out with me getting out of bed with messed up bed hair and last night's makeup, a clip from my Lazy Girls' Guide, a slightly ironic representation of Beauty Gurus with time saving tips and other hacks to beauty with little to no effort. The following clips were short and cut by word panels saying Beauty, Adventure and Real Life, and after the last one I added the clip in which I talked about not knowing what to do after school and how to deal with graduation anxiety; in the beginning that's what my videos were all about, ranting and complaining about my problems, finding ways to deal with them. Some people turned to look at me from other tables smiling and I looked down.

After the food we went into the Green Room, a lounge area with music, drinks and comfortable where everyone could hang out. That's where the group finally walked up to me. I had been looking their way for a big part of the meal and I could swore they did as well.

Joe was the first.

–Valerie, right? –he came up to me a little hesitant, a smile on his lips. Besides him and only a step back was Oli White.

Author Note: just want to clarify that english isn't my first lenguage so i apologize for any mistakes i've made. also thank you for reading this, please leave some feedback in the comments.


	3. Chapter Three

–Val –I answered, letting him know he could call me by my nickname. I took a step closer and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

–I'm a viewer –he said, keeping a hand to my waist, the smile reaching up to his eyes. I giggled. – Joe Sugg.

–I know –I replied trying to repress my stupidity impulse.–, love your videos –I ended up saying.

–This right here is Oli, I'll have him subscribed by tomorrow –he joked.

–Hello –Oli greeted with a quick smile.

–Hey –I greeted back. – So aren't you guys missing a mosqueteer? –I joked lightly, I had seen all three of them sitting in the dining previously, my sight fell on his hair, his shoulders and his back probably too many times during the dinner.

–Oh, right –said Joe, looking around. I took a second to check out his outfit, he was wearing skinnies and a floral low cut top– I don't even know where he's gone to, that's such a shame.

–That's alright –I said, smiling through my own personal let down.

–Well, okay –he shrugged–. So are you here on your own? –he asked, I assumed he was curious since they traveled as a pack and I was a lone wolf for once.

–Just me –I replied, putting my hands in my jean's pockets slightly uncomfortable.

–Well you can totally hang out with us, I really mean it I'm a viewer, I've seen some of your older stuff, pretty good.

–God –I laughed as I felt my cheeks flushing red, it meant he already knew a ton about me that I could not hide.– Thank you so much though, it really means a lot. I'm a fan too.

–Why thank you! –He ran a hand through his hair–. You wanna go grab a drink at the bar with us?

I agreed and hung out around the boys for a while, a short while since Oli quickly left and left the both of us alone to bond. We talked about making a collab, Joe lived about two hours from London and I did too, only on the opposite direction. But we could sort something out, he seemed excited about it and I was thankful. Collabs were a great way to get exposure, it would really help me expand my audience and launch my career. It was still up to me to make good content and bring people around to watch it. Suddenly I remembered me and Emma's conversation the night before.

–I'd so bang Joe Sugg –she had said as she put the tripod away.– He has those skinny little legs and the long torso. –She shrugged as she nodded her head.

–It's all about those –I replied throwing my jacket over my shoulders. –But my one and true bae is Caspar –I laughed at how silly that sounded when I said it out loud. – For what I know he likes blondes though, I would not rock blonde hair.

–But if given the chance, would you?

–Sure, I guess. Nothing to lose, right?

We both laughed, I knew my best friend would do too.

–I'd hook up with Caspar just so I could annoy you about it forever.

I stared at her as she had betrayed me in the worst possible manner, and she laughed. And somehow or another now I was sitting down drinking a beer with Joe Sugg, who turned to be just as nice as he pictured himself in videos, we were laughing, planning a collab and also planning to meet the next day to go to the party.

When I finished my second bottle I decided it was about time to go to sleep. My meet up was early the next day, I had to be at the venue at 10, luckily they'd get me at the hotel.

–I'll see you tomorrow, then –I said as I got closer to hug him goodbye.

–Yeah, and don't be nervous, it'll go great! –He assured once again. – See ya tomorrow.

I walked away trying not to turn back to look again. He wasn't that much taller than me, his figure was thin and he was confident, he smelt of beer and after shave. I got back to my room, removed my makeup and changed into shorts and a shirt. I felt so anxious about what was coming the next day, I still thought no one would show up and I would be majorly humiliated for life, but I had been checking my social media for a while laying in bed and it seemed as quite few people were ready to go see me. I thought I should close the vlog, so I turned the video on my phone and started talking.

–As you see it's bedtime already, I'm sorry I didn't vlog a lot today, I hope I will tomorrow though. I met a ton of cool people today and I'm hoping I'll be able to work with some of them in the future so I'm very excited about that, but the thing I'm most excited about is meeting you guys! I honestly cannot wait until tomorrow morning to give you the biggest hugs and see all of your beautiful face! So I'll see you in a bit when I've had my beauty sleep, alright guys, mwah! –I stopped the recording and left my phone by my side of the pillow.

It was a good thing I was tired because I really couldn't wait.

A/N: thanks for so many reads even though this fic isn't very good haha :)


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